A New Kind of Upper Atmospheric Lightning?

Source - Space Weather News for August 31, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

A NEW KIND OF UPPER ATMOSPHERIC LIGHTNING? In recent years, photographers have catalogued a growing number of luminous forms apparently leaping up from the tops of thunderstorms. These so-called sprites, elves, gnomes, and trolls inhabit the upper atmosphere, reaching their weird-looking tendrils up toward space. On Aug. 14th, an amateur astronomer in New Mexico photographed a rare curving form of upper atmospheric lightning that has baffled experts in the field. Shaped like a funnel or a tornado, it might represent a new addition to the menagerie of sprites.

Read all about it on today's edition of Spaceweather.com

Image credit: Thomas Ashcraft 

Space Lightning over Hawaii

Source - Space Weather News for July 26, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

SPACE LIGHTNING OVER HAWAII: This week, automated cameras atop a dormant volcano in Hawaii captured rare footage of Gigantic Jets leaping up from a powerful thunderstorm. The strange-looking bolts reached toward the edge of space, delivering a surge of electricity to the top of Earth's atmosphere. These unusual forms of "space lightning" could become more common in the years ahead as declining solar activity allows more ionizing cosmic rays to penetrate Earth's atmosphere. Learn more on today's edition of Spaceweather.com.


Gigantic Jet Lightning Near Hawaii

Taken by Frankie Lucena on July 24, 2017 @ Mauna Kea Observator
Image Source URL -  http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=137164